Counseling Office

School counselors offer educational, personal/social, and career counseling and guidance for all students. School counselors focus on learner outcomes and competencies to help students become lifelong learners and responsible, productive people.

School counselors provide programs for students, parents, and teachers:

  • Individual counseling
  • Group counseling
  • Crisis intervention
  • Career planning
  • Classroom guidance
  • Parent/teacher conferences
  • Orientation
  • Consultation
  • Education

School counselors assist students in meeting their educational goals:

  • Developing a positive attitude toward learning
  • Setting and reaching academic goals
  • Developing a secondary school course plan
  • Exploring post high school options
  • Researching and applying for scholarships and financial aid
  • Improving test-taking skills

School counselors help students grow personally and socially:

  • Gaining self awareness
  • Developing positive attitudes
  • Developing relationship skills
  • Making effective decisions
  • Improving responsibility
  • Resolving conflicts
  • Respecting others
  • Developing healthy choices

School counselors teach career planning:

  • Developing skills in career decision making
  • Utilizing the career planning process
  • Understanding career stereotyping
  • Analyzing the interrelationship of interests and abilities
  • Understanding the interrelationship of life roles and careers

Erikson's Development Stages

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson describes the physical, emotional and psychological stages of development and relates specific issues, or developmental work or tasks, to each stage. For example, if an infant's physical and emotional needs are met sufficiently, the infant completes his/her task -- developing the ability to trust others. However, a person who is stymied in an attempt at task mastery may go on to the next state but carries with him or her the remnants of the unfinished task. For instance, if a toddler is not allowed to learn by doing, the toddler develops a sense of doubt in his or her abilities, which may complicate later attempts at independence. Similarly, a preschooler who is made to feel that the activities he or she initiates are bad may develop a sense of guilt that inhibits the person later in life.

Infant
Trust vs Mistrust
Needs maximum comfort with minimal uncertainty to trust himself/herself, others, and the environment

Toddler
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
Works to master physical environment while maintaining
self-esteem

Preschooler
Initiative vs Guilt
Begins to initiate, not imitate, activities; develops conscience and sexual identity

School-Age Child
Industry vs Inferiority
Tries to develop a sense of self-worth by refining skills

Adolescent
Identity vs Role Confusion
Tries integrating many roles (child, sibling, student, athlete, worker) into a self-image under role model and peer pressure

Young Adult
Intimacy vs Isolation
Learns to make personal commitment to another as spouse, parent or partner

Middle-Age Adult
Generativity vs Stagnation
Seeks satisfaction through productivity in career, family, and civic interests

Older Adult
Integrity vs Despair
Reviews life accomplishments, deals with loss and preparation for death

Numbers to call for help

Covenant House "9-line"
1-800-999-9999
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
A general hotline for teens with any kind of problem; Covenant House's expertise is in dealing with homeless and runaway youth. The people who respond to phone calls are trained in crisis intervention, as well as the ability to direct the caller to the appropriate organization or program.

Boys Town Hotline
1-800-448-3000
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
Highly trained professionals answer your questions regarding problems such as counseling, runaways, family and school problems, pregnancy, suicide, chemical dependency, sexual and physical abuse.

Runaways
National Runaway Hotline
1-800-621-4000
24 Hours/7 Days A Week

Depression, Mental Illness and Addictions
Crisislink
1-800-SUICIDE
24 Hours/7 Days A Week

Regent Hospital
1-800-LIFENET
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
An information and referral service.

National Mental Health Association
1-800-969-NMHA
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
Practical information for teens, including free pamphlets on various mental health topics and referrals to mental health centers, hotlines and treatment facilities throughout the United States. NMHA's Web site also offers various fact sheets for parents and children on everything from depression to school safety.

Alcohol
1-800-ALCOHOL
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
Information and referrals by trained staff.

Abuse
Child Help USA
1-800-422-4453
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
A national child abuse hotline that provides referrals and information to the victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and the suicidal.

RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network)
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
1-800-656-HOPE

AIDS
1-800-342-2437
24 Hours/7 Days A Week
Gives out educational information about the disease and is also a referral service staffed by trained individuals.

Dating Violence
1-800-621-HOPE
24 Hours/7 Days A Week